Halo: Dawn of a new Era
by THATGUYWHOMAKESHORRIBLESTORIES
Summary: Hope was a fragile thing. But the inhabitants of the Milky Way Galaxy didn't mind. The wounds caused by the Human-Covenant war had finally healed; as they united under the banner of the ISA. But no one realized just how brief that respite could be.


**A/N: **1st fan fiction of mine (well, not really, but still...). Constructive criticism is very much appreciated; be as harsh as you like. I turned on anonymous reviews so I can get input in much more easily. To be honest, I've hit a massive writer's block for my story, so I deleted/abandoned my main account in favor of starting anew. With this alt account, I'm free to do whatever I want without the constraints and pressure coming from my beta reader, the 3 or so odd people that actually read my fics, and my own expectations. Updates for my story could range from weeks to months. I'd like to think of this as a trial run where I can get flamed as much as possible for my fics and actually start to improve my writing. IMO this chapter is pretty piss-poor, and I was well below my [admittedly high] goal of 3000 per chapter, but, hey, it's a prologue. Also, please come up with better names for my characters. I've been reading cold war novels and watching Pirates of the Carribean, so it's not surprising when the fleet admiral has one of the most generic British names ever, and the ONI officer has a Russian name with a sort of KGB vibe. And I stole the other officer's name from the writer of Halo: Contact Harvest.

* * *

To say that the galaxy itself had been changed irrevocably in the months after the Human-Covenant war would have been an understatement.

It had been 28 years. 28 long, hard years full of turmoil, bloodshed, glassings, and the false promise of salvation through the use of horrifying millennia-old super weapons; which were capable of wiping out all organic life in the galaxy.

The Forerunners, if they had still been alive, would have been utterly disgusted at the events that happened after they fired the Halo rings. Their precious Forerunner Mantle was cast aside, as an alliance of different species joined together in a theocratic based society, stripped down their relics, built them into weapons, and waged war against the Reclaimers; the rightful inheritors of everything the Forerunners had passed down.

Worlds had been glassed by plasma bombardment; an abuse of the technology the Forerunners had created to defend against the Flood.

People of all species were running, fighting, falling, and dying on the battlefield, for what? All for the mad delusions and false promises of a few San 'Shyuum.

The Flood were released onto the galactic scene once more; Gravemind sowing havoc wherever he went, spreading his infection like a plague before finally being silenced and cleansed.

28 years was a long time. But in the grand scheme of things, it passed in the blink of an eye.

There was still hope. The UNSC, the Sangheili, what remained of the Covenant…they all rebuilt in time. But the Universe was a nasty, nasty place. The Forerunners had done their best to impart their peaceful legacy and Mantle onto the species they had managed to save.

It wasn't enough. There would always be war, always a reason to fight, always a reason to commit unspeakable atrocities.

Ironically, 117 years was the time it took until the galaxy experienced another war. Fate, after all, is a cruel mistress.

* * *

Semper Vigilans (Always Vigilant)

-Motto of the Office of Naval Intelligence

"_From this day forth, the Office of Naval Intelligence has been agreed upon, by a unanimous vote among the council members here today, to be the official intelligence apparatus for the newly christened InterStellar Alliance (ISA). Their goal will be to carry out the duties that each ONI Section (0-3) had before, and ensure the survival of the ISA as a whole by_ any means necessary."

-Council Decree 38

* * *

Sol System – Planet Earth

Year: 2670

Month/Day: January 1st

Time: 22:42

Location – New York, Inter-Stellar Alliance HIGHCOMM Base

"I told you; these readings we got off ONI are a major concern." Fleet Admiral William Beckett remarked to the military advisors seated around him. In front of him, a holographic table displayed the object of attention: unregistered traces of what appeared to be FTL drive fluctuations around the edge of colonized and known ISA Sangheili pace.

"Well, whatever the hell it is, it seemed to get the Sangheili jumpy. They've already put all their forces on full military alert and are asking the rest of the ISA to do the same." Jordan al-Cygni replied. He made a hand gesture, and the holographic table instantly switched to an image of ISA fleet movements in the San System. Hundreds of Corvettes, Seraphs, Phantoms, Banshees, Cruisers, and other ships were milling around, most centered in a defensive pattern around Sangheilios, the homeworld of the Sangheili.

"You think they're hiding something?" asked Beckett.

"No, the Sangheili have their "honor" and all that. They can be stealthy, but they usually have all the subtlety of a Scorpion tank when it comes to politics. If they had an ulterior motive, they would have told us, or at least have told members of ONI."

"Whatever the Office of Naval Intelligence puts out should never be taken at face value." mused another advisor. "They could know what all this is about, but not tell us…" he paused, shooting a worried glance to Vladimir Dedovich, the only member of ONI who was present in the meeting.

Vladimir snorted, but did not comment, instead choosing to gesture towards the holographic table to switch back to the grainy "picture" of the traces of FTL drive fluctuations. He sighed, and leaned back in his gravity chair.

"I…can assure everyone in this room," he finally said, looking around at all the people staring back at him; some with indifferent faces, some who looked wearied or fatigued, and others with open hostility directed straight at him. "That ONI has no further knowledge beyond what has been presented at this current time. Our GUARDIAN early warning sensor net does not have infinite range, as I am sure everyone in this room knows." He paused.

* * *

CODEX – GUARDIAN SENSOR PROBES

During the re-colonization of the original 800+ UNSC planets and colonies post-war, frequent pirating raids by Kig-Yar, as well as remaining Covenant Loyalist fleets, had relentlessly hounded the over-stretched and still comparatively weak UNSC fleet. The Sangheili and Covenant Separatists weren't always around to help, as they had to deal with their own problems too. And when a relatively unguarded and lightly armed re-terra-forming fleet was discovered by the Loyalists, well, the results weren't pretty. The UNSC fleet needed time to divert the necessary manpower and rally it's ships to counter a raiding party, and that time usually spelt total annihilation for those involved in the terraforming effort for whichever planet.

Long-range scanning equipment was shoddy at best, even in the early stages of the Human-Covenant war. A group of two enemy Corvettes, for example, could be passed off as an asteroid by even the most skilled technician. Post-war, it got even worse. Earth was the only planet to still harbor some long-range scanning equipment, and glassings had all but destroyed most of the military infrastructure of other planets.

The UNSC needed an answer, and it needed one fast. It turned to it's best and brightest in ONI to come up with a cost-effective solution.

The answer came in the form of the GUARDIAN early-warning sensor probe prototype. Hailed by many as the genius of engineering come to life, it was quickly implemented throughout known Human space.

More accurate than planet-side sensors or sensors built into Orbital Defense Platforms (MAC Platforms), these relatively small and easy to produce devices "buoyed" themselves in space, having enough fuel to sustain itself for months. Thanks to advanced cloaking, scanning, and fuel technology imparted by the Sangheili, it could detect Slipspace ruptures even right before the ships dropped out of FTL and not be detected by enemy ships, allowing the UNSC the time it needed to rally the ships to defend the planet under attack.

The early prototypes had many flaws, however. Since the devices had been built with a minimalist approach, they had no security measures, and as such they were very vulnerable to electronic jamming, and could even be "hi-jacked" by enemy Loyalist Huragok to detect UNSC ships around planets. Also, due to it's cloaking, the devices exuded abnormally high amounts of thermal energy, allowing for easier detection. All this was exploited in the final UNSC-Loyalist battle. The GUARDIAN sensor net around Sol was knocked out, and the remnants of the Covenant Loyalists, lead by a Jiralhanae Chieftain named Bacchide, moved in for a daring all-out attack on Earth. Were it not for Covenant Separatist reinforcements coming in at the eleventh hour, Earth would have fallen.

Although they had nearly succeeded in their goal – (the "cleansing" of the Human home planet), the attack committed all the war resources available to the Loyalists, and left the remaining Covenant Loyalist systems weak and defenseless.

To this day, newer and better GUARDIAN sensor probes were being produced and integrated all throughout ISA space, but the new ones still did not have the sensor range that ONI had wanted.

* * *

"The thing is though; we got our Luminaries to scan what we could see of the residue and came up with an unknown designation, and we don't know whether it is a threat or not." Beckett sighed. "I'd rather take precautions than for us to be caught off guard…but at the same time, according to the Mantle, we shouldn't start a war simply because whoever it is thinks we're about to attack. I say we hold off on rash actions for now, and merely bolster our defenses." Beckett looked around the room. "Well?" he prompted.

A couple murmurs started up, but everyone in the room eventually gave a nod to signify their agreement. All, of course, except for the ONI spook.

"I agree, but we should pull a couple ships from the local ISA fleet to the San System regardless. Best to keep our allies pacified, Lord Beckett." Vladimir replied curtly.

Beckett nodded. "Then this meeting is adjourned."

At his dismissal, all his military advisors got up and started to leave. Beckett waited till the last person was out of the room, then closed the door and rubbed his temple, wondering what had happened to get him into the mess he was in now. He had a lot to live up to; Fleet Admiral Terrance Hood had done a fine job, and he knew that he would always live under that massive shadow. A pity that Hood had died before peace finally came to the galaxy.

* * *

It had taken many years, perhaps even decades, before a peace treaty between the Humans, Covenant Separatists (who signed the treaty only out of symbolism for they had signed a similar one many years ago), and the rest of the Loyalist Covenant client species was put in effect. The San 'Shyuum never got to sign the treaty, for they had become extinct with the destruction of High Charity and the executions of Regret, Mercy, and Truth.

Bad blood still existed between the multiple species, especially the Jiralhanae and Sangheili, but tensions eventually eased as time wore on. The Humans' commerce system appealed to the Kig-Yars' greed and lust for profit, so they got along fine. The Huragok, sick of being constantly thrown into battle as suicide bombers or otherwise, were glad to be finally at peace, and fix things again. The Unggoy reveled at the new freedoms granted to them in the treaty. The Yanme'e were as indifferent as ever, but were satisfied in a way by the new territory ceded to them, out of respect of their losses when forced to join the Covenant. The Lekgolo did not care much either, but many still decided to serve alongside the Sangheili.

Before long, however, many started to think that relations between the species could go much further than a simple treaty. If all the Covenant client species, as well as Humanity, united together as a single unifying force…the benefits would be obvious. For one, easier trade. For another, greater defense of all planets, should a major threat arise. Surprisingly, it was the Humans who came up with the idea for what would eventually be the ISA. Their politicians spent a couple years working up a rough draft, then called together important members of the former Covenant, dreading the worst. So when the Sangheili, Kig-Yar, Unggoy, Yanme'e, Lekgolo, Huragok, and even the Jiralhanae accepted the proposal, they were overjoyed.

Eventually, the InterStellarAlliance (ISA) was formed. To oversee it, a council would be made with at least 50 councilors representing each species. Freedom of speech, gender equality, and all these Human (now officially termed "Reclaimers" by the majority of the ISA population) ideas were accepted and implemented in the new Writ of Union. Major progress was made in the development of all the species, and they all progressed to an advanced "Tier 2" designation by Forerunner standards. The Covenant's main color of purple, after much controversy, was kept. It became very uncommon to see ships with members of only one species on it. It was a new age; one of discovery and enlightenment. The new ISA took it upon themselves to continue what the Forerunners started, and adopted the Mantle – to protect and preserve all life throughout the galaxy.

* * *

Beckett smiled as he walked to his quarters. In hindsight, everything had been going well for once. No Insurrection, for the ISA had not repeated the mistakes of the UNSC. No parasitic threat from the Flood. No theocratic Covenant lead by a bunch of deluded maniacs threatening to exterminate humanity.

And…yet…why was there such a sharp pang of unease when he had seen the GUARDIAN sensor report in the Sangheilian sector? Why had he felt so cold, so…_fearful?_ Beckett dismissed those thoughts immediately. He didn't like where they were going. On a sudden impulse, as soon as he reached his quarters, he activated his personal holo-computer and quickly typed in the access codes. Broadcasting on an open frequency, he gave the order to initiate the Cole Protocol, and also gave the order for five fleets to be dispatched to the San System.

Twenty-four hours later, the ISA was on full alert.

But even Beckett could not predict; could not even _suspect_ what was about to happen in the coming months and years. Light years away, preparations were complete. Within a week the GUARDIAN sensor net would start to pick up multiple alien contacts. But by then it would be too late. Beckett's impulsive action would save millions. But billions more would soon die.

* * *

**A/N: **Bit dramatic much, eh? I feel like the whole last part of this chapter needs a re-write.

A pity that I'm horrible at writing battle scenes, my dialogue sucks, and my descriptions all suck too. If any could take the time to re-write this whole chapter and send it to me it would be much appreciated.


End file.
